Consumer bill payments are frequently required on a recurring basis, such as the end of each month. Typically, a consumer receives one invoice each month, and pays the invoice with one check, every month, over a period of years. Examples of regular and recurring bills include rent or mortgage bills, utility bills (such as electricity, telephone, or cable television service), credit card bills, and bills for personal services. In typical systems, bill processing may begin with the biller creating a bill or statement, which may be called a remittance document, that has a detachable portion or remittance stub. A remittance stub is designed to be returned with the consumer's payment so that a employee of the biller may associate the payment with the consumer's account and process the payment.
Typically, when a consumer receives the bill, the consumer must open each bill envelope, review the remittance document, write a check for the proper amount, detach and complete a remittance stub, insert the check and the remittance stub into a reply envelope, and mail the envelope. This process may be time consuming for the consumer, and may result in errors in processing the payment because of the multiple pieces or paper involved. Therefore, it is desirable to provide methods and systems for more rapid, efficient, and accurate bill payment processing.